1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of automated tour guides and other computerized position (e.g. GPS) based devices that can play back tour guide audio narration and other media based, at least in part, on the user's geographic position or position history.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the advent of low cost, portable, computerized devices capable of audio output, as well as the advent of inexpensive methods of automatically determining position (e.g. Global Positioning System (GPS) systems), work in the field has, to some extent, focused on devising various types of travel guides that can automatically provide audio narration or other media (e.g. visual displays text or graphics) to a user as a user travels or “tours” to various locations.
Although in past years, earlier automated tour systems might comprise little more than a collection of stories stored on audio media, such as tape, and instructions for the user to move from one location (e.g. one museum location to another museum location); modern systems tend to be more capable.
More modern automated tour systems, exemplified by various “GPS based Audio Tour Systems” are often based on a combination of audio content, software and a GPS enabled, computer processor equipped, hardware device that provides users with information (often audio stories) in a manner that correlates with the user's current location.
Typically these audio tour systems may be used by tourists in the form of walking tours. Such walking tours are often confined to a small geographic area, and often there is only a limited amount of media content to cover. Although a few services have also used such GPS based audio tour systems for use in road vehicles, such systems often have limited flexibility in that the user must still follow a set route in order to obtain satisfactory tour guide results. That is, unlike a human tour guide, such prior art GPS based audio tour systems have a limited ability to provide a natural and compelling flow of information (e.g. coherently linked audio stories) when a user deviates from the path that the device was originally programmed for.
Prior art in this area includes Alumbaugh, U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,614, who taught a travel guide device that provided timely presentation of audio or visual information linked to a geographic point of interest.
Other prior art includes Adelaide et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,124,024 who taught a portable device supplying tourist information; Jamison et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,148 who taught various automated touring information systems and methods; Whitham, U.S. Pat. No. 6,526,351, who taught an interactive multimedia tour guide; Zulaikha, WO/2008/086574, who taught a contextually enhanced multi-channel location based tour guidance system; and others.
Nonetheless, despite such prior art, such automated tour guide methods are still not widely used, suggesting that further advances in this art would be useful.